With Knee Healthy, Dan Henderson Focused on Lyoto Machida

Henderson is on a four-fight win streak. He defeated Maurico “Shogun” Rua in his last outing at UFC 139 in November 2011. The bout won Fight of the Night on the card and Fight of the Year honors for 2011.

A knee injury sidelined him in 2012, but Henderson says the knee is healthy and he’s ready to go.

Henderson’s knee injury cost him a title fight with Jon Jones at UFC 151. He now co-headlines UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche on Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim against former titleholder Machida.

“It just was very unstable. I didn’t need surgery, but I probably prolonged it a little bit and tried to get in and train on it and do things on it which may or may not of made the healing process a little slower, but I know that it’s good now and I’m able to go 100-percent,” said Henderson about his knee on a media conference call promoting the event.

The winner could be next in line for a title shot, but Henderson isn’t looking that far ahead.

“Well, just like any fight nowadays, there’s a lot on the line and it’s definitely going to be a huge challenge and I’m not really even looking past it. This fight, I just want to make sure that my game plan is there and my mind is in this fight and we’ll see what happens after that,” said Henderson.

The winner may get to fight the winner of Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, who fight on April 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Machida believes the winner would have earned it, but Alexander Gustafsson could be in line if he defeats Gegard Mousasi at UFC on Fuel TV 9 on April 6 in Stockholm, Sweden.